When many animation fans see Gene Deitch's name on a Tom and Jerry cartoon, they go out of their way to avoid it. So what do I think of this most hated of eras of my favorite cat and mouse duo? In all honesty I don't think it's that bad. In fact I would say I have seen much worse happen to Tom and Jerry (such as the 1980 TV show by Filmation studios, "The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show" (We will get to that monstrosity later)). Now don't get me wrong I by no means think they are as good as the Tom and Jerry cartoons from William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. There are some bad cartoons during this era (Dicky Moe, Switchen Kitten), but there were some I actually believe to be pretty good (The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit, Buddies Thicker Than Water, Tail in the Trap, It's All Greek To Me-ow, Down and Outing).
In 1960 since MGM's animation studio was closed, it was decided to ship the making of the Tom and Jerry series overseas. It was shipped to Czechoslovakia. Where former employee of the American animation studios, UPA and Terrytoons, Gene Deitch, had just moved in 1959 (He was a director at Terrytoons (Where he created the character of Tom Terrific), and an animator at UPA). The Job of directing had been turned over to Gene Deitch. However Gene Deitch was not a fan of Tom and Jerry. Deitch wrote "Personally, as a UPA man, I had always cited Tom & Jerry cartoons as the primary bad example of senseless violence - humor based on pain - attack and revenge - to say nothing of the tasteless use of a headless black woman stereotype house servant". Another problem that had faced this team was that many of the animators had never seen a Tom and Jerry Cartoon. Deitch also wrote, "Even if the spirit was willing to give it an honest try, the fact remained that these communist-era, isolated animators had never in their lives seen even one Tom & Jerry cartoon! I had seen more than a few, and in spite of my ideological distance, I did appreciate the perfect craftsmanship, the expressive animation, with its exquisite timing, the endless gag inventiveness, and the characters' incredible damage survival". Also plaguing them was the much smaller budget they had to work on.
Due to these cartoons being imported from a communist country MGM did all they could to hide that fact. While these were among the only Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoons to not say "Made in Hollywood, USA", there was no mentioning of where they were made. Names like A. Booresh,
Victor Little, S. Newman , M. Clicker and V. Marsh appeared in the opening credits, instead of Antonín Bure_, Václav Lídl, Zdenka Najmanová, Milan Klikar, and Věra Mare_ová.
While William Hanna and Joseph Barbera made 114 theatrical Tom and Jerry cartoons, Gene Deitch only made 13. Naturally the best parts of these Tom and Jerry cartoons were things that did not relate to the previous cartoons. There was a great sense of surrealism, and strangeness to these cartoons. This sense comes from the sound effects, music, and animation. It also occasionally features a few great moments of satire, such as "The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit" (1962). These cartoons have their own entertaining charm (in my opinion). Even though they are very different from other Tom and Jerry cartoons and aren't as good as the Hanna and Babera classics, I enjoy them quite a bit and will continue to do so.
If you want more information about Gene Deitch's Tom and Jerry cartoons (From the man himself), or if want to know where I got the quotes from, click on this link:
http://www.awn.com/genedeitch/chapter-twentyone-tom-and-jerry-the-first-reincarnation
To Be Continued...
-Michael J. Ruhland
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